Search - Maria Marquez :: Eleven Love Stories (Once Cuentos De Amor)

Absolutely Awesome

Randolph von Essen | Carmel, CA | 03/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw Maria Marquez tonight in San Francisco and she's extraordinary! The best jazz singer I've ever heard in my whole life. I have seen Nina Simone, Etta James, Camen Mc Rae, Maria Bethani, and legendary singers and Maria is class on her ownSomebody gave me her album "Once Cuentos de Amor" as a gift and I was hooked. I drove all the way to San Francisco in the rain just to see her!The balance and fullness between such a few instruments and Maria's extraordinary voice are astonishing. The unorthodox instrumentation is also very unique and refreshing. The use of mandolin, Steel Drums, cuatro and other instruments is rather pioneering and I am sure contemporary Jazz fans like myself tired of the same old ensembles would appreciate it for its innovative and beautiful qualities. This is a Must buy!! Congratulations to Ryko on their discovery of this great artist!"

The Audio Equivalent of Prozac

Randolph von Essen | 03/19/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

""Eleven Love Songs" could not even keep an insomniac awake--this is one sleepy recording. And quite frankly, I felt it was the audio equivalent of Prozac. The level that this music does work on is as background music or a cure for insomnia (if being bored to sleep can be considered a cure), but for up-front listening, there was nothing that made me want to pay attention to the music for very long.
Marquez does get a dark sound, but there's a side of me that wishes she would cut something with a little excitement to it. All of the tracks on this album run at the same slow pace, there is not even a single uptempo tune to act like a mild dose of caffeine amidst the sleepiness.She seems like a decent vocalist, and I know she does have potential, but the subject matter just makes the whole thing rather empty and uninteresting to me. Some of the previous reviews are so overly enthusiastic one might think that Marquez herself wrote them."